The studio was reportedly searching for a new director "in haste," and with less than a week since Bender's departure, the addition of Branagh signals that they are serious about their first Jack Ryan movie to feature the Tom Clancy character since 2002's The Sum of All Fears. That is, if Branagh officially commits.

Like its predecessor, the Untitled Jack Ryan movie is intended to be a reboot, and has seen its fair share of screenwriters come and go through its years-long development, before David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible) was hired to rewrite the script last April. Paramount is hoping to start production this September, once Chris Pine finishes work on Star Trek 2.

After directing last year's successful Thor for Paramount and Marvel Studios, Branagh has a good relationship, but Variety reports that the actor/director is only in talks to helm the reboot, and his participation has not been finalized. Branagh is also scheduled to direct The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for Fox Searchlight, and even had cast his Hamlet actress Kate Winslet for the lead in the movie, based on the best-selling novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows.

Production on Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society was reportedly set to start this month, but Daily mail reported a few weeks ago that the adaptation was "put back for further development" and there's no word on what Branagh's commitment to Jack Ryan will mean for the project. Screenwriter Don Roos (Marley & Me, The Devil Wears Prada) was adapting the script.